The Body in Parts
by Amy-Star
Summary: We are the sum of all our parts. A look at FMA characters and their relationship to certain parts of the body. Possible manga spoilers.
1. Heart

"_I don't care what the toll is! Take my other leg! Or my arm! Take both of them! You can even have my heart."_

**Edward Elric, Chapter 23, Volume 6.**

"_You must think about this scientifically. Don't let your emotions get in the way. These souls can never go back to being human."_

**Envy, Chapter 53, Volume 13.**

The heart was a muscular organ, responsible for pumping blood through the vessels in repeated rhythmic beats.

Seventy-two beats per minute. Two billion beats in a lifetime.

That was the description his father's book on human anatomy told Ed about the heart, and was the definition he held to be correct. Then he left his hometown and went out into the world, it quickly became apparent to him that there was more then one way to define what the heart was.

His teacher Izumi seemed to posses a heart of steel, overcoming harsh winters in the Briggs mountain range and the personal tragedy with the death of her child. The outer shell of her heart might have been steel but at the center, it was soft and giving, when she helped, local children fix their toys or comfort them. She accepted Ed and his brother, two orphans who had nothing, as her apprentices bringing them into her home and life.

Winry was his mechanic, childhood friend, and perhaps something more if his own heart could one day sort out his feelings for her. She had a resilient heart that could withstand whatever horror or sadness life threw at her. The most impressive part was the fact she had an open heart that accepted and loved many people. Ed realized that her heart was stronger then his when she forgave Scar for the death of her parents.

The heart that held top priority for Ed was that of his brother. His brother always had a kind heart that would take care of abandoned cats that put the needs of others before himself. It reminded Ed of his mother's heart, with her kind smile and warm embrace; she had a heart that was pure and loving. There was no hesitation for Ed to sacrifice his own heart if it meant getting Al's back. It was because of Al's heart that he refused to see him anything less than human. Ed's heart was even more difficult to change than his mind.

That did not make his journey any easier.

Ed came across hearts that were sinister upon their conception. At the core of each homunculus was the Philosopher Stone that pumped life through their bodies, containing thousands of innocent souls.

There were too many events and people that he experienced that tore at his heart.

Nina was a sweet girl who suffered a cruel fate at the hands of her father all in the name of scientific progress. Ed was unable to save her.

Maes Hughes, a man who tried to help Ed and his brother only to get in over his head, which lead to his death. Ed blamed himself for his death.

The encounter of Envy's true form in the dark cavern of Gluttony's stomach continued to haunt him. Deep down in his heart the miserable souls attached to Envy could never become human again, but he hesitated ending their existence in order for them to escape. When he finished the transmutation circle and took the lives a part of his heart became numb.

Ed wondered when the time came to use the Philosopher's Stone if he could do it, even if it meant Al not getting his body back.

A struggle waged inside him between scientific certainties and emotional beliefs. He just hoped that his heart would be strong enough to finish what he started and correct his mistakes.

**Amy-Star:** Due to the new anime being released I decided to re-read the manga and I realized that a lot of the themes and characters deal with different parts of the body. The end result is this series of drabbles that will focus on a character and the part of the body most connected to them. Originally I was going to have Ed's be the brain and Al be the heart, but after thinking about it I decided that out of all the characters in the series Ed has the biggest heart.

Hope everyone enjoyed this ^____^


	2. Hands

"_Your hands weren't meant to take people's lives. They were meant to save them."_**Edward Elric, Chapter 47, Volume 12.**

In the Rockbell Household, hands were the most important tool of their respective trades.

Granny Pinako's hands were not that of a frail old woman, her skin was like worn leather that had a few cracks but was still strong. The kind of hands that never faltered, Winry would watch in amazement as her Granny's nimble fingers would confidently thread wires, screw on bolts, and solder metal together to create works of art. Hands that could chop beef and vegetables to make the best stew, that smelled of tobacco from the years of pipe smoking, which securely held her granddaughter's trembling body when she heard about the death of her parents. The scars and blisters on those hands told the story of a long life filled with hardship, but that her hands had worked through it all and triumphed.

The hands of her father were that of an automail mechanic but he had the mind of a doctor. His hands were large and warm. Winry loved it when he would pick her up spinning her around, she was never afraid that his hands would let her go. He had hands that could do hard work like holding down a patient that thrashed around in pain or delicate work like stitching up a head wound.

Her mother also had healing hands that could set bones back into their sockets or gently wipe the brow of a feverish patient. Her hands were soft and smelled like vanilla from an oil she used because she did not want her child to smell blood or death on them that came with being a doctor. Hands that were always giving Winry loving touches; tickling her under her arms, carefully running through Winry's hair as she brushed it, tenderly placing a bandage over a scrapped knee.

Winry would look at her hands and see the legacy of her family. The soft but resilient skin like her mother's, fingers long and supple like her father's, but possessing a strength to get hard work done like her Granny.

She wanted her hands to do wonderful thing. To have hands that could construct great automail that would change a person's life for the better, that would not mind having the smell of oil on them from polishing a suit of armor, that had the ability to guide a baby into the world.

Most of all she wanted to support Ed and Al with her hands.

**Amy-Star:** If you couldn't tell I totally "heart" the Rockbell family ^___^ I greatly appreciate reviews!


	3. Right Arm

"_The right arm deconstructs and the left arm reconstructs." _

**Scar's brother, Chapter 60, Volume 15.**

His favorite bedtime story as a young boy was how the great god Ishvaal made the world.

In the beginning before there were people or cities; Ishvaal formed the tall mountains, laid out the fertile plains, shaped rivers to flow through the land, crafted trees to provide shelter, then lastly he created the golden sun to be the source of warmth and life. Ishvaal instructed one of his servants to take the sun from east to west everyday, but the servant grew tired of his boring job and decided that the sun would continue its' daily journey just fine without him. In that, moment of carelessness the sun spun out of control falling from the sky and scorched the rich land below until there was nothing left but sand. Ishvaal gazed down upon his destroyed masterpiece but did not succumb to anger or sorrow, for he knew that within the sand life still lived waiting to take on another form.

Ishvaal then took the sand and made the Ishbalan people, their skin dark as the sand from which they came, eyes red like the fire from the sun.

The moral of the story was that creation begets destruction and destruction begets creation. After each telling his older brother would question his mother, eyes burning with curiosity. _"If that's true then why do our people reject Alchemy? The philosophy of Alchemy is that in order to create something you must first deconstruct it."_ Their mother would frown perhaps sigh wearily at her eldest son's precocious nature," _We must not be like the foolish servant who disobeyed Ishvaal's command. Ishvaal is all knowing and all-powerful, only he can decide what shape the universe will take. Now stop your nonsense, you're setting a bad example for your younger brother." _His older brother would be silent but he would not stop questioning.

As the years passed, he would move from boyhood to manhood but his older brother continued to research the forbidden arts, collecting books from faraway lands. The villagers often whispered about him saying he was odd or blasphemous, and that "Thank Ishvaal" the younger son was a proper Ishbalan man; strong, faithful, and dutiful. He would ignore these words of condemnation and praise, for he loved his older brother and that bond between them was more important.

Then the war came.

His memory of that time came in sharp fragments of a shattered glass he could not put back together. An alchemist with the smile of a snake. The intense heat of fire. His family disappearing in the chaos of explosions and screams. The back of his older brother coming into his line of vision. An unimaginable pain in his right arm. The smell of blood and anesthetic. An arm covered in black tattoos that belonged to his older brother. White skin of Amesterians, a man and a woman, cries of terror then darkness.

When it was over, he stood on a cliff overlooking the land that was once his home now reduced to ash and rubble, knowing that not even Ishvaal could create anything from the devastation. With his new arm, he set out to destroy the alchemists who brought this war upon his people.

The story was wrong; destruction begets destruction.

**Amy-Star: **So this story doesn't so much focus on the Right Arm but more what is represents; which is essentially destruction. What I attempted to convey was that destruction is natural only when coupled with creation.

And remember the reviews are love, so lets spread the love ^___^


	4. Back

"_Being entrusted with my back means that you may also shoot me in the back at any time."_****

**Roy Mustang, Chapter 61, Volume 13. **

Since Riza was a little girl the part of her father that she saw the most was his back as he hunched over his desk pouring through theories and equations. It was a position that blocked her from his world; she would stand in the doorway of his study silently willing him to notice her.

The only time her father sought her out and invited her into his private world was when he asked her to do him the greatest honor of protecting his masterpiece. His face was drawn out with deeply etched lines of old age remained a vivid image in her memory especially the way his eyes burned when he told her of his plan.

To this day Riza wonders why she agreed to it.

When the tattoo of her father's greatest theory was complete, she was in such excruciating pain all she could do was line in bed on her stomach. It would be a week before the blistering red skin on her back healed another before she could sleep without wincing in pain. When she first looked at the tattoo in the bathroom mirror, she was amazed at the beautiful design, dark lines that formed circles and triangles, ancient lettering that twisted around the symbol of fire. It meant nothing to her having none of her father's alchemy skill but she vowed to protect it with everything she had, this was her father's greatest masterpiece.

The man she ended up sharing the secret with was her father's idealistic apprentice who had dark, kind eyes and a beautiful dream to make the world a better place. She would never forget the day she showed him, pushing down her embarrassment as she let the shirt fall to the floor bearing her back to him. After what seemed like forever in the tiny, stuffy space of her bedroom, he finally thanked resolutely before retreating.

Then the war came. She watched in horror as the apprentice used her father's work to kill so many. The sounds of their screams and the smell of their burning flesh demanded that she recognize her guilt, that she was responsible for their deaths. At the end of the war she pleaded to the apprentice that he burn her back beyond recognition to prevent another flame alchemist from misusing her father's legacy. He vehemently protested but eventually relented but instead only burned a small part of her back. In that moment he had set her free from the chains of duty that bound her to her father's last request, a part of her hoped that like a phoenix from the flames a new Riza Hawkeye would arise.

However, the war never ended inside of her, the imprints of her father and the apprentice always remained on her back.

She became the subordinate of the apprentice who was now a colonel, he entrusted her with the important job of guarding his back, instructing her if he ever strayed from the correct path to shoot him there. Years would pass and her feelings changed when she gazed at his back, fearing that one day the last thing she would see was his retreating back until like her father he was out of her reach.

**Amy-Star: **It's done! I hope everyone liked this, Hawkeye has always been a personally favorite of mine so I hope I managed to keep her in character. Hope everyone is having a delightful summer ^_____^


	5. Eyes

"_The look in your eyes has changed." _

**Maes Hughes, Chapter 59, Volume 15.**

"_Those eyes, so clear and focused…I love them." _

**Lust, Chapter 39, Volume 10.**

Roy had his mother's eyes.

Almond shaped, dark and alluring, giving him a hint of exotic ancestry. Roy's father often said that his mother's eyes were what initially attracted him to her, eyes that seemed to draw people in.

His new mother Madame Christine said he had a special light in his eyes, which meant he was going to accomplish great things. _"Men with eyes like yours can see beyond the average person," _she would declare in her rough but affectionate voice. He never truly understood what she meant until he grew up.

His eyes were always taking in new information, the pages of his alchemy texts, to the interactions of the people around him, to beautiful girls with their lovely smiles. The day his eyes took in a military parade Roy knew he wanted to become a soldier; the royal blue uniforms, the metallic shine of the tanks, the precision marching of the soldiers.

At the academy, he met other young men and women like him whose eyes could see a bright future before them, of the greatness their country could achieve. He can still remember their youthful and optimistic faces not knowing in a few years most of then would be dead. His new friend Maes Hughes would often joke that Roy viewed the world through rose-colored glasses that he saw goodness and potential that no one else could see. Hughes called him a dreamer in an affectionate way but in a few years, he would say it like it was a curse.

His alchemy teacher Master Hawkeye disliked the look in Roy's eyes. He felt they were too ambitious, setting their sights on goals that only a fool would think were possible to accomplish. However, it was the fire in them and the eagerness to learn that would persuade him to take Roy on as an apprentice. His daughter Riza would fall under the same spell, seeing in Roy's eyes a kindness and a desire to do good.

When the war came, his eyes took in everything.

In the war cities were reduced to rubble in the course of one night, children crying at the mangled bodies of their dead parents, intense flames surrounding people transforming them into ash and charred remains, blood and dirt staining the blue uniforms he had admired in his boyhood. He watched the eyes of his best friend Hughes and Riza Hawkeye the girl who trusted him, turn into those of murderers.

After a year and three months his fellow soldiers celebrated the end of the war while Roy raised his eyes up to the man who was responsible for it all: King Bradley. It was then that his eyes shifted from the dreams of his youth to a new goal, one that would prevent future generations from seeing the horrors of war.

His eyes clear with determination, burning with the flames of ambition, looked towards the future.

**Amy-Star: **Perhaps this is just the fangirl in my talking but I've always loved Roy's eyes, I think its his most distinctive feature. Once again I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter ^____^


	6. Left Arm

"_My arm is really gone…" _

**Lan Fan, Chapter 50, Volume 13.**

When Lan Fan turned five years old, her training began.

She kneeled before her grandfather as he examined to see if she was ever worth his time. His conclusion was that she had barely suitable feet and her arms were too skinny and frail, he did not believe that her arms could be strong enough to protect the members of the Yao clan.

"Why don't you return to your mother? You should learn needlework and flower arranging, that would be appropriate work for you." His dark eyes gazed into hers waiting to see the effect his insults would have on her.

"No one can know my true potential unless I'm given the chance," she replied firmly, not shrinking or wilting under his steely gaze.

Normally a rude response like that to the head of her family would result in being slapped hard across the face; instead, her grandfather shook with laughter. "Is that so? Then I will give you a chance but I won't go easy on you. A jade must be chiseled before it can be considered a gem."

Her grandfather was true to his word.

The training was long and hard. He would have her carry buckets of water up and down the step to the temple, transfer large stones from one end of the garden to the other, have her repeatedly punch a block of wood until her knuckles bleed and the muscles in her arms twisted in fiery pain. All the while, her grandfather constantly berated and corrected her, when she failed to finish a job to his satisfaction he would declare aloud that he should have never taken on a girl with weak arms. Lan Fan used his words to motivate her; she refused to believe that her arms could not protect what she loved the most, the Yao family especially the young prince.

Seasons passed and Lan Fan grew stronger, she could run up the steps with the buckets of water not spilling a drop, carry the rocks with ease, and split the wood in half when she struck it. She had proven herself and her arms worthy of taking on the task of protecting the price. In the land of Amestris, she would do just that, forfeiting her own arm in order to make sure her prince lived to see another day.

The worst part was when her grandfather found her at Dr, Knox's house, the sting of his words were as painful as the hard slap he delivered across her face. A part of him then broke, with a look of devastation on his face the head of her family asked in the pained voice of a child if her arm was really gone.

All she could do was apologize.

He reached out grabbing the empty sleeve of her shirt where her arm would have been, mumbling repeatedly that she was a fool. She remained silent but inside she thought that she rather be a fool than a girl with weak arms.

Lan Fan did not give up, as she traveled back to her homeland she promised that she would get a new arm and once again protect what she valued most.

**Amy-Star:** Lan Fan has always been a personal favorite of mine. She's just so badass and willing to go beyond the call of duty to protect her prince. I hope this piece shows that even at her weakest Lan Fan remains strong.


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